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Masaru Sakamoto
Masaru Sakamoto (サカモト マサル, Sakamoto Masaru) is a jōnin-level shinobi of Konohagakure's Sakamoto Clan, and the leader of Team 11. He is also the last surviving member of the Sakamoto clan. Background Masaru is the eldest child of last heads of the Sakamoto clan, Takeshi Sakamoto and his wife Tsubaki Sakamoto, and as the first-born is the heir-apparent to the clan. However, Masaru has personally stated that this title has no real value anymore, as he is the only Sakamoto clan member still alive. Masaru never personally witnessed the massacre of most of the clan during the Third Shinobi World War, but the incident left a long-lasting impression on the young heir. From a young age, Masaru made it his duty to do everything he could to uphold the honour of his clan and himself. This decision was significant in shaping Masaru's relationships with the other village shinobi, in particular Hinata and Neji Hyūga. Roughly four years before Part I, the entire Sakamoto clan was wiped out in a single night, in an incident very similar to that which befell the Uchiha clan. The only survivor was Masaru, who only survived because his parents managed to hide him before they themselves were killed. As a result, Masaru never saw who was responsible for the attack, although he did hear their voice. After the unknown assailant left, Masaru came out of his hiding spot, only to find his parents' mutilated bodies in front of him. Even Masaru's younger sisters, Yui and Yua, aged two and three respectively, had not been spared. From that day, Masaru vowed that he would find the person who was responsible and make them pay for what they had done. However, unlike Sasuke, Masaru never became obsessed with his revenge, the reason being that he only had a voice to go by, which limited his options severely. Personality Masaru is characterised as thoughtful, kind, calm, and very respectful, as shown by his bowing to Hiashi Hyūga, despite having never met him before. He is also a very honourable person; Masaru immediately defends Hinata when Neji berates her both during the preliminaries of the Chūnin Exams and his fight with Neji in the final round, even though Masaru barely knew Hinata at the time. Masaru is similar to Hinata in that he dislikes fighting, but fights whenever the need arises. He is also very empathetic, as demonstrated by his ability to understand the hardship that Naruto went through as a child and his strong desire to be acknowledged. As a result of the two attacks on his clan, one of which he personally witnessed, Masaru developed a strong sense of honour, and how a person should act. He is shown to have a strong dislike towards anyone who acts dishonourably, and feels compelled to show people the error of their ways. Masaru is shown to be very polite and calm at all times, occasionally to the point where he comes off as quite reserved. As a result of his beliefs, Masaru soon comes to admire and respect the other Konoha genin. In particular, Masaru comes to respect Naruto, admiring the fact that Naruto refuses to let his past hold him, fighting to earn the respect he deserves from the rest of the village. Masaru is one of the few genin who knows about Naruto carrying the Nine-Tailed Fox within himself, and so respects Naruto even more, knowing exactly what he must have gone through as a child. However, the person Masaru admires and respects the most turns out to be Hinata. Having witnessed Hinata's fight against Neji, Masaru was surprised at the determination with which Hinata fought; even when all of her chakra points were blocked, Hinata refused to give up and let Neji win easily. This admiration was strengthened in the period before the final round of the Chūnin Exams, when Masaru and Hinata trained together. Hinata explained the whole story of why Neji hated the main house of her clan so much, and why took it out on her. Masaru also helped Hinata improve her own confidence and self-esteem during this period, causing Hinata to develop feelings for him. Masaru soon develops feelings for Hinata as well, but is initially unsure as to what these feelings mean. After a while, Masaru realises that he has indeed fallen in love with Hinata, but holds back from confessing, for fear that her father would not approve. Eventually, Hinata confesses her love for Masaru first, as she is dying as the result of being stabbed by the Deva Path. Masaru immediately admits his love for her, with the two sharing their first kiss just as Hinata dies. The deepness of Masaru's feelings are shown when he very nearly flies into a blind rage when Hinata dies, which is completely out of character for him. Masaru's respectful and polite personality also helped him quickly develop a friendly relationship with Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyūga. Hiashi thanked Masaru for saving Hinata's life following her fight with Neji, while Masaru insisted that he did what anyone else would have done. Hiashi also acknowledged the good influence Masaru was on Hinata, saying how pleased he was that Hinata was becoming much more confident in her own abilities as a result of her training with Masaru. As a result of Masaru's help, Hiashi decided that Hinata would be the one to succeed him, despite previously deeming her a failure. Hiashi also allows Masaru and Hinata to date each other, pleased that Hinata has both found someone to love, and had the courage to confess her love to that person. He even allows Masaru to adopt the Hyūga name, which Masaru accepts, realising that his clan no longer exists, and he has more to offer Hinata's family. Appearance Masaru has long, jet black hair and fair skin (though several shades darker than Hinata); traits he inherited from his mother. Masaru usually wears his hair in a topknot, with his hair reaching down past his shoulders when loose. He also has dark brown, almost black eyes, just like his father. He is usually seen with a calm, almost stern expression in Part I (with the exception of when he is with Hinata), but in Part II he has a more relaxed and friendly expression. Masaru's clothing typically consists of a simple white kimono with a gray lining on the sleeves and outer edge of his clothes, tied together with a white sash, with the sword Shinrei strapped to Masaru's left waist. He also wears a pair of wooden sandals, called geta, similar to those worn by Jiraiya (albeit left plain instead of being coloured red), in place of the typical ninja sandals. His forehead protector uses a black cloth, with the cloth itself being even longer than on Naruto's, reaching down to Masaru's waist when worn. When travelling, be it on missions or not, Masaru also wears a plain straw hat on his head. The hat sits low enough that it hides Masaru's forehead protector, a fact that often fools attacking bandits and shinobi into thinking that Masaru is just a harmless traveller or a client if he is with other shinobi. In fact, Masaru explains that this was his intention when he decided to wear the hat when outside the village. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Masaru changes his forehead protector for the one adopted by the Allied Shinobi Forces, but retains his original outfit. During the fight against the Ten-Tails, Masaru loses his right eye as a result of the same attack that fatally wounds Neji. Just before he dies, Neji manages to transplant his own right eye into Masaru, ensuring that Masaru would still be able to fight at full strength. Masaru is left with a vertical scar over his right eye, with his eyes now being mismatched, the right being white with a slight lavender tint, while his left eye remains the same. Abilities Chakra Prowess and Control In terms of chakra, Masaru has always been noted as being far above avrage for a shinobi. Initially during Part I, Masaru's chakra reserves are hinted at being similar to, if not equal to Naruto's own (when not using Kurama's chakra). This level of chakra is the result of Masaru's intensive training, which focused on him almost entirely depleting his chakra each day, so as to steadily increase his reserves over time. By Part II, Masaru's chakra reserves are still on the same level as Naruto's, giving Masaru far more chakra than most normal shinobi. Even as a young child, Masaru displayed incredibly precise chakra control, which only improved as he grew older. The level of Masaru's chakra control is evident from the fact that he was able to master shape transformation and Wind Release prior to his introduction in Part I. Masaru is also able to replicate the gathering of positive black chakra (+の黒チャクラ, purasu no kuro chakura), and negative white chakra (−の白チャクラ, mainasu no shiro chakura) used by the Tailed Beasts, albiet on a much smaller scale, to create his most powerful technique; Getsuga Tenshō (月牙天衝, Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer; "Piercer of Heaven" in the English anime). Taijutsu At first, Masaru's taijutsu skills were hard to ascertain, due to the fact that Masaru uses taijutsu only rarely. However, Masaru gradually uses taijutsu more often, displaying his true skills in this area. Very early on ,Masaru is shown to be highyl skilled in taijutsu, as showcased by the fact that Neji Hyūga was unable to land even a single hit on Masaru during their fight in the Chūnin Exams. Even before that, Masaru was able to defeat Kabuto in the preliminaries in just a few seconds with a single strike to the chest, demonstrating both his strength an hinting at his true speed. Masaru's taijutsu utilises his above average strength, shown when he is able to block a full powered swing from the Samehada, holding his sword with just one arm. However, Masaru's taoijutsu mainly relies on his unmatched speed. Rock Lee noted that, even without his leg weights, Masaru was far too fast for him to keep up with. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Masaru's true speed was finally revealed; he was able to keep up with a reincarnated Minato Namikaze's attacks, despite the former Hokage being hailed as the fastest shinobi ever. Ninjutsu Masaru's ninjutus is the second most utilised of his abilities, second only to his kenjutsu. As a result of possessing both Wind and Lightning chakra natures, Masaru is able to perform incredibly powerful ninjutsu, on a similar level to Naruto. One of his most used techniques, Wind Release: Killing Fields, is so effective, that the target only hears the faintest whisper of wind before Masaru kills them. This technique earned Masaru the moniker "Konoha's Whispering Death" (木の葉のささやき死, Konoha no sasayaki shi). Throughout Part I and Part II, Masaru's ninjutsu skills are frequently shown, mainly through his use of high-level jutsu and his own original jutsu. His most powerful jutsu, Getsuga Tenshō, was described by Yamato as being as powerful as the Tailed Beast Ball created by Naruto while in his four-tailed form. Stats